Job loses confirmed at Kent airport
01.08.05
Staff at Kent Airport have been told that 127 jobs are to go, following the collapse of PlaneStation, owner of EUjet and the airport, last week. The employees were told today that the redundancies would take place immediately.
Administrators Grant Thornton said PlaneStation would only keep a skeleton staff to make sure the airport stayed operational while efforts continued to find a buyer. All flights, including freight planes, out of the airport have been stopped.
EUjet flights were suspended last Tuesday but flights from other carriers, particularly freight companies, had continued. However, staff were told by the administrators today that they could not continue to maintain insurance cover for any type of aircraft activity.
It is understood that the administrators have not received any offers from other airline companies to operate low-cost flights. However, a spokesman for PlaneStation said there had been 'expressions of interest' in taking over the airport.
Clive Lewis, a representative of the Transport and General Workers' Union, said the announcement had left workers stunned. 'It will have a great impact on people from the area because Thanet is a high unemployment area and there is not much chance of people finding jobs,' he said.
The future of EUjet and its employees is being handled by an administrator from the Republic of Ireland.
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